Panel OKs 'Mockingbird'

Tuesday

PALM COAST -- "To Kill a Mockingbird" may get a second chance to fly at Flagler Palm Coast High School but the fate of the classic play is still up in the air.

A committee of nine district employees and parents decided Monday morning that the material is appropriate for high school students but did not say whether the school should produce the canceled show.

Students planned to perform the play this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The play is based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which most of the district's students read when they are in ninth grade. But a committee decided last month to cancel the performance after hearing concerns from parents, students and community members over the play's use of a racial slur.

School Board member Colleen Conklin submitted a letter on Nov. 1 appealing the committee's decision.

Superintendent Janet Valentine said she has "never not supported the play," provided school officials notify the audience that offensive language will be used in a historical context. The School Board is expected to weigh in tonight regarding whether the play is appropriate for students to perform, not whether a specific performance should take place.

Valentine also said she will support the committee's decision. But Principal Jacob Oliva has the final say about whether the school will eventually produce the play.

Oliva said in a prepared statement Monday that while committee members who originally canceled the play have now deemed it appropriate for high school students, members did not think the "proper foundation had been laid to ensure the success of this production."

"We look forward to the opportunity when the community can join us to celebrate this literary work," Oliva wrote. "With the proper time to prepare and take into consideration the powerful messages of this work, FPC embraces this great learning opportunity."

The committee that met Monday included parents and employees from the district's other schools. They also recommended the district develop a policy for dealing with dramatic works.

Chris Pryor, principal of Matanzas High School, said if he had ever uttered the racial slur used in the play when he was a child, his parents would have made him wash his mouth out with soap. Yet it is still sometimes used in conversation today. He even heard the word as he walked through the school's courtyard Monday morning.

Could students at his school stage the play? Maybe, he said after the meeting.

Most of the committee members said they felt the students should be allowed to perform the play. Teaching critical-thinking skills should be part of high school curriculum and the play allows the opportunity to do that, parent Marc Ray said.

"It requires controversy," he said. "It requires disagreement."

Aside from the students, others said the Flagler County community is ready for the play's message.

"I have not heard anyone in the community say this play should not be going on," said Monica Campana, a media specialist at Indian Trails Middle School.

But some weren't sure. Carue Davis, a guidance counselor at Matanzas, said the novel is "a wonderful piece of material" that should be read with guidance from a teacher. Yet the audience could misunderstand the work if not prepared to watch it, she said.

"I'm uncomfortable with the presentation of the play," Davis said.

If the school is allowed to produce the show, FPCHS needs to "strike while the iron is hot," said Ed Koczergo, the school's theater director. With Oliva's blessing, he and his students could produce the play before Christmas break, he said.

"It needs to be done right now," Koczergo said. "In order for us to redeem ourselves in the eyes of the educational world, we need to do it now and I could get it done."

The cancellation hasn't stopped FPC drama students. They performed a set of three plays based on "Aesop's Fables" last weekend, the time slot originally reserved for "To Kill a Mockingbird." Koczergo said his students are mature and handled the situation well.

"They are actually the ones that have been overlooked," he said. "Nobody talks about how this has affected the cast. It has been in the back of their minds since the moment it was canceled."

Jo Anne Green, whose 18-year-old son, Eddie Green, was chosen to play Atticus Finch, said he was thrilled to play the fictional lawyer who represents a black man wrongly accused of raping a white girl. Green attended the Monday morning meeting but she was not a member of the committee.

Community members don't usually attend school plays, but if they did, they too should be fine with the material, she said.

"We've all heard the word," Green said. "Most of us should be smart enough not to use the word, unless you're ignorant."

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